What Is A Nice Gift To Celebrate Achieving Financial Independence (FI)?

I have a lifestyle today for which I am quite happy and, also at the same time, quite appreciative and grateful.

I live in the best city in the world – New York City. It is a city full of life, culture and vibrancy. I enjoy all the entertainment and experiences the city has to offer.

There are countless great restaurants here, including five 3-starred Michelin restaurants.

Broadway plays and musicals, world class museums, kid friendly parks, water view promenades, and the Statue of Liberty are some of the wonders here. I’ve gotten to enjoy experiencing all of those and more living in New York City.

I also live in Manhattan, enjoy great restaurants about once a week, take nice vacations and also have good opportunities to spend time with the kids.

All this while my wife and I worked on building our passive income streams, saving for retirement and funding the 529 college savings plans for our kids.

I know how much it takes on an annual basis to maintain the currently lifestyle of ours. Now if I can get my passive income stream to match the household expenses, I will be financially independent (“FI”).

After about 20 years of work and pursuing FI in my personal financial journey, I am getting close to achieving enough annual passive cash flow to meet my annual expenses.

This is a great feeling to have. But it is also one which then leads to the question of “what next?”

My last post explores what I should do with my professional career after achieving FI.

This post is less serious and more fun in my mind.

I want to explore what gift I should reward myself when I finally hit my FI cash flow stream. I am still not there yet. There are a few things I need to still do in order to get to financial independence.

The timing might be within a year or two before getting my cash flows to match my expenses. But it doesn’t hurt to plan ahead for when that time comes.

I am tossing around a few things in my mind that I can get once I achieve FI. It would be good to figure out how to reward myself now so that I can (1) save for the reward and (2) start convincing my wife that I/we deserve the reward.

Here are some of the reward items in my mind right now after achieving financial independence:

Start A Business

I’ve always wanted to be my own boss and start my own business.

My business will allow me to get 100% of everything I put into it. Being a business owner can provide me with a lot of freedom and flexibility. Additionally, I don’t have to deal with office politics and colleagues with whom I don’t enjoy working.

I can set aside money to start my own business as a reward to myself for all those years of diligently earning, saving and investing.

I know what some of you are thinking. This isn’t a reward, it is just more work. You might be right on that front. But it will still be rewarding to me to seed a business off the ground.

Buy A Nice Car

I have a family with kids. Undoubtedly, I have to care for my family first. Therefore, my car is an SUV which can comfortably and safely shepherd my family from point A to point B.

Now, nearing financial independence, I find myself starting to scope out luxury non-family friendly cars more. Having a sports car would be nice in addition to the SUV.

But practically speaking, the reality is that I will rarely have time to use a sports car. I live in Manhattan and barely drive the family car as it is.

Imagine having a second car that I will only drive in my down time. The most likely usage scenario will be a drive or two in a month (a bit more during summer and fall and probably zero times during winter).

Is a sports car worth all the cost of leasing it, maintaining it, and also renting for parking for such limited usage a month?

Splurging on an upgrade to a new luxury SUV as the family car such as the Mercedes GLS 450 (MSRP of around $85,000) might be a better reward. There is definitely more usage from it and the entire family can enjoy a bigger car.

But there are downsides as well to getting a nicer SUV. First off, the Mercedes GLS 450 is a bigger car and it would be harder to get parking in NYC for it. Secondly, the garage might charge me more for my parking spot for this bigger car.

Lastly, I hardly drive the family SUV as well. Therefore, is this the best reward for me?

Buy A Second Home

I can always reward myself by splurging on an incredibly expensive item such as a second home.

The idea of having a second home my family and I can escape to over the weekend sounds really great. It is no wonder I find myself sometimes checking out prospective weekend homes on Zillow.com.

But then I look at the numbers and they bring me back to reality. There is just not enough usage of a second home to justify the cost.

Not to mention, I will most likely spend time worrying about the second home when I am not there.

Also, I don’t want to inflate my monthly expenses now that they are for the most part known and set. Getting a second home will lead to lifestyle inflation.

I might have to continue to work to be able to afford a second home given the mortgage payments and monthly cost of carry.

Travel By First Class Or Private Plane

Going on vacation is one of the things I enjoy to do immensely. Despite being the best city in the world, I have a desire to venture out of New York City for a portion of the year to explore other parts of the world.

When I travel, I typically fly economy. It doesn’t matter if it is a 2 hour flight to Chicago from La Guardia or an international flight for 10 hours, I still fly economy.

But as I’ve gotten older and older, I do not enjoy flying as much. The seats have gotten smaller with less and less leg space.

It is also harder on my back and body to have to cram myself in such a small space.

Therefore, a good reward after achieving FI might be for me to travel once in first class on an international trip. I have never flown first class before and it might be fun to try.

I can also chalk it up as an experience event and compare the experience in flying first class to economy.

Another thing I’ve been looking into is flying private. Maybe I can splurge on a private charter plane to Las Vegas (or somewhere within 5 hours).

Given there is usually a charge based on hours of flight, it would be costly to go too far. I have never flown private before and this could also be a fun experience.

Depending on the plane, I might be able to bring family or friends along.

Plan A Top Notch Vacation

Instead of spending a lot of money on the flight, I can continue to fly economy (or do a slight upgrade to economy plus or extra leg room) and; instead, spend the money on enjoying a top notch vacation.

I can try to put together a vacation where I will stay at an ultra-luxury resort that I would normally not want to splurge on. I can try to get a suite with the best view room available.

Additionally, I can book private tours and eat at the best restaurants. Maybe even hire a private chauffer to shepherd my family from place to place.

I can try to book special private visits to famous attractions.

But I feel I already do take nice vacations. I am not sure how much incremental joy I would have if I try to go above and beyond.

Buy A Nice Watch

I can also reward myself for spending the money on material goods.

There was a period of my life when I was really into luxury watches. The only piece of jewelry a man can wear is a nice watch on the wrist.

I used to view having a high end watch as a status symbol and one that signals I’ve made it in the professional world.

My thought about luxury watches has evolved over time. I don’t necessarily covet the newest hard to get luxury watch anymore.

Back then, I used to have a list of watches I would like to go buy. The list serves as a reminder about the monetary budget I need to set aside, as well as, a list to focus on my hunt.

Now that I’ve been able to get my hands on the timepieces on my list, I do not have a watch I really want to get.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t start researching one for me to hunt for when I hit FI.

It might be nice to add to my watch collection after achieving FI since it has been a few years since I’ve spent money on a nice luxury watch.

Increase Spending On Kids

I can always take the more “practical” approach and increase my spending on the kids when I hit FI.

There are many ways to spend money on the kids without spoiling them in my mind. The last thing I want to do is buy my kids more stuff.

I can spend more money hiring a private tutor for them. I can also hire private lessons for activities and hobbies my kids want to pursue.

I can sign them up for a better camp over the summer or have them take educational trips during spring or winter breaks.

These are some of the ways I can add to my kids’ education without having to spoil them by buying them more toys or gadgets.

Increase Spending On Family Members

Just as I can increase spending money on my kids after achieving financial independence, I can also spend more money on other family members such as my parents.

I can offer to cover a nice vacation for my family. Instead of traveling with my immediate family, I can opt to travel with my extended family as well.

The more the merrier is what I found, especially when traveling.

I can also take my family out for a nice meal. We can share a nice dinner at a Michelin starred restaurant.

There is no greater joy than to be able to share good moments with family. I do find I am happier when I spend money on my family than when I spend it on myself.

Just Save The Money

The last item I have is to just save the money.

While it doesn’t sound much like a reward for achieving FI, saving the money instead of spending it on a reward can keep my financial nut intact.

That way, I can continue to have peace of mind in my financial situation.

But it defeats the whole purpose of wanting to reward myself for a job well done after 2 decades of earning, saving and investing.

Ultimately, I think I would want to spend some money in rewarding myself.

To the audience: If you have achieved financial independence, what did you do to reward yourself and celebrate? If you have not gotten to FI yet, have you thought about how you would celebrate and reward yourself when you hit FI? Which option do you think I should pick in order to reward myself?

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SoM @ SportofMoney.com

Many people work hard to better their physical and mental health. What about their financial health?

I started this blog back in 2019 to help people better their financial health as well.

My financial journey began with tens of thousands in student loan debt. Over the span of 20 years, I am close to achieving financial independence.

I truly believe anyone can get to strong financial health. Hopefully, this blog can help you on your financial journey to greater wealth and financial independence.

You can read more about me here.

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